Neo-Con Blinders | National Catholic Reporter

Neo-Con Blinders | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: From what I hear, many mega church services are exercises in secularism anyway, especially for the economically comfortable or those who want to be.  With a fixation on political issues this year, the Catholic pulpit was not far behind for a few months.  I have a friend from Catholic College who is now a Unitarian pastor.  It seems to be working for him.  What matters is not profession or confession, but how one treats the least of his or her brethren.  I only hope that God will keep putting such people in my path and remind me to help them.

2012: A Look Back | National Catholic Reporter

2012: A Look Back | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The election did matter, because the GOP gerrymandered its way into enough seats to keep a finger on the scale in the House.  The election that mattered was 2010 at the state level.

The Affordable Care Act is still not settled, even if it is constitutional, since it may very well be that health insurance investors are more risk averse than the uninsured (or the subsidies are inadequate to buy insurance).  If either is the case, the whole private insurance market could blow up, resulting in either a single-payer system or a public option combined with repeal of some parts of the ACA.

The HHS mandate is really not a new thing, a fact that is lost on our host.  For people who hold third party insurance, it has been mandated since December 2000 that all policies include contraception.  The only change is the fact that some Churches can now opt out (they could not before).  While the President and Valerie Jarrett can be faulted for picking this fight, the Bishops were willing combatants.  Both sides used this controversy to shamelessly excite their bases.

I suspect most Catholics have not read the documents of Vatican II or the latest Catechism.  I suspect both are best examined in a classroom setting with a teacher rather than as an independent study.

As for libertarianism, it need not be insidious.  Indeed, school choice is a libertarian proposal, as is my proposal for Catholic Health hospitals to take over the treatment and corrections of non-violent drug offenders and to administer paid adult education as a replacement for the disastrous welfare reform carried out in the 90s. That could actually be the promise of the new century.

The View From the Cliff | National Catholic Reporter

The View From the Cliff | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The Dems always had the leverage, especially if you add the big finger of the high dollar donors who stand to lose the most if there is no compromise.  They overplayed their hand, thinking that they would get more Republican members.  Indeed, as time goes on, many districts that stayed Republican this time will go Democratic with demographic shifts and any amount of intelligent GOTV in the off-year elections.

Papist Patriots: A Review, Part II | National Catholic Reporter

Papist Patriots: A Review, Part II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: As I mentioned yesterday, one wonders if the book, like the review, examines the reasons WHY anti-papist sentiment existed from an objective point of view.  Catholic hands were not exactly clean in this era, nor are they in this one.

Cut Nose; Spite Face | National Catholic Reporter

Cut Nose; Spite Face | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Health care does not have a cost problem, it has a pricing problem.  Costs are quite low in for profit hospitals - its the markups that are high.  Regulating those markups is the debate for the next 30 years and for the saving of Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA.  Republicans know this (they know who writes them checks), which is why they want to deflect the debate to somewhere else.

New England's Changing Denominational Landscape | National Catholic Reporter

New England's Changing Denominational Landscape | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Poor people and those who feel that the Church has lost its moral authority are always attracted to end-times preaching, just as the Book of Revelation was written in opposition to Pauline Christianity (as revealed by Elaine Pagels).  Given the degree of corruption involved in the child sex abuse scandal in Boston, it is not hard to believe that an entire generation and its progeny are lost to the Church.

Papist Patriots: A Review, Part I | National Catholic Reporter

Papist Patriots: A Review, Part I | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Such a narrative as this usually ignores the reason why anti-Papists feel the way they do, including ways in which the governance of the Church, from its desire to play power politics to its medieval structures for holding property, need to be updated from those appropriate a millennium ago, although they would have shocked the apostles.

NCR's Person of the Year | National Catholic Reporter

NCR's Person of the Year | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB:  This was a good choice, since unlike the bishops, he was not willing to undo health care for his own agenda or to affect the election.

The Aesthetic of Christmas | National Catholic Reporter

The Aesthetic of Christmas | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Merry Christmas to all.  The kitch and sentimentality are part of it, but mostly because they recall for some of us, especially cradle Catholics, the continuity with the past (even if some parts of the commemoration are recent).  My father and sister's love for Adeste Fidelis is the Latin brings a tug to my heart every year, and a pang of disappointment if it is sung in English.  What is also moving is how the Incarnation dovetails with the story of the empty tomb, which would have no meaning for us if Christ were not one of us.  This is why we kneel tomorrow when the Incarnation is proclaimed in the Creed and not at the mention of the Resurrection.  Both events must be proclaimed as part of the New Evangelization to be more than an exercise in orthodoxy, or else my memories of my father are quite sad and meaningless.

B16's Address to the Curia | National Catholic Reporter

B16's Address to the Curia | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The Pope is fighting a losing battle against emerging self awareness.  I am sure he has apocalyptic thoughts that the teaching can never change on sex.  Like all such thoughts, he is likely wrong.

A Battle Worth Having | National Catholic Reporter

A Battle Worth Having | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: When I was in High School, I could have used a day off.  As it was, I worked both days for two years and had no day of rest (unless you count school as restful).  At times I thought it too much and I wish my parents had agreed, but it kept me in Catholic High School.  It seems they thought I was keeping the Sabbath by going to Mass before work.  I missed a lot of time with my younger siblings by doing this.  I also provided a bad example for them.

What's Worse Than Partisanship? | National Catholic Reporter

What's Worse Than Partisanship? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: This is not necessarily bad news, because if the Fiscal Cliff comes about, everyone's taxes go up a tad bit a week, but the rich pay much, much more.  I suspect that donors will be calling members at home to get them to vote for a compromise next week.

Swiss abbot makes fiery appeal for church reform | National Catholic Reporter

Swiss abbot makes fiery appeal for church reform | National Catholic Reporter These are the bishops we have been waiting for.  I am sure we have similar ones here.

Religious colleges win legal round with court ruling on HHS suit | National Catholic Reporter

Religious colleges win legal round with court ruling on HHS suit | National Catholic Reporter  This seems to settle things, at least for these colleges.  That, of course, kills it as an issue for fundraising and rabble rousing.  Truly a blessing.  The right wing won the battle and lost the war.

The Killings in Newtown | National Catholic Reporter

The Killings in Newtown | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: We should not mention the names of these killers. It plays into their pathology - and it is pathology rather than evil per se. While there should be a discussion on limiting their access to guns, there should also be a discussion on what we as a Church and as a society fail to do to provide these people the treatment they need, even if they sometimes do not want it. The Church must lead on this. The evil is in ourselves for doing nothing, or resisting further funding when a few extra dollars a week could make this possible.

Spirited sparring between federal judges, lawyers marks HHS appeal | National Catholic Reporter

Spirited sparring between federal judges, lawyers marks HHS appeal | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: This could be another camel's nose to reopen the abortion argument, however I don't think these appeals will survive the appellate court stage to be able to do that. The Administrative Procedures Act is clear and the preference is not to allow such constitutional challenges if there is an out in law. The Church and its institutions seem to have really bad lawyers, but we knew that with the whole sexual abuse scandal when they played hard ball rather than helping the Church be true to its word. We need to quit protecting the Church and start expecting it to act like it is the representative of Jesus.

Silk on Religious Adaptation | National Catholic Reporter

Silk on Religious Adaptation | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Largely an insider discussion, since Silk actually mentions his commentators by name (a practice MSW could emulate on occasion). In general, there are some structures which are non-doctrinal that could be changed, even though the hierarchy insists otherwise, especially resulting priestly continence, female ordination and the holding of church property by bishops.

Same-Sex Marriage & The Courts | National Catholic Reporter

Same-Sex Marriage & The Courts | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Unacceptable. The basic human rights of individuals cannot be left to the will of the political process - also known as the tyranny of the majority. That goes for gay marriage as an institution and what gay and straight married people do in their bedrooms (or with their medical plans). The Church may not like that fact, but denying it is hardly in keeping with a moral theology that is based on God given free will. Sometimes we can collect our free will on policy, sometimes we can't. When it is for individual autonomy, we cannot

Sausage Making Time | National Catholic Reporter

Sausage Making Time | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: On taxes on the wealthy, the big deal is on dividend and corporate gains tax rates. Movement on this will get us down the road to eventual reform, including replacing the income tax collection for most families with consumption taxes. Getting a job or continued unemployment is much more important than a payroll tax holiday. It would have been better to instead raise and make permanent (and universally refundable) the Child Tax Credit paid against employer tax obligations. On infrastructure, they should just raise taxes on gas.

As for the markets tanking on the debt deal, they did for about a day - however when the credit rating went down, so did the interest rate because nervous investors had nowhere else to go. The GOP has likely learned their lesson on being blamed for the debt ceiling and will comply - because they know that the constitutional option is valid under the 14th Amendment.

If there is a deal on taxes, the sequester needs to be eliminated - however a temporary deal means a temporary repeal of the sequester. The likelihood of a deal is high because the very wealthy have a lot to lose, while the middle class does not. This is because they both pay a lot and were given a lot in the tax cuts. There are those who are willing to simply let the fiscal cliff come (while repealing the sequester). That might be the best option for the poor.

Garnett on Unions | National Catholic Reporter

Garnett on Unions | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Right to work is about mandatory unionization and mandatory political fees, which many regard as unjust. Of course, in a post Citizens United world, no one is talking about asking shareholders to be able to opt out of corporate donations to candidates either. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Journalists & Bravery | National Catholic Reporter

Journalists & Bravery | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I could not imagine putting myself into that kind of harm either. I don't think I would have survived. It speaks to their inner strength.

Deneen on "Chimera" of "Natural Law Liberalism" | National Catholic Reporter

Deneen on "Chimera" of "Natural Law Liberalism" | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The founders of the American public read Locke, Montesque and Rousseau, with heavy doses of Calvin by others.  You can clearly see these influences in what they wrote and what they did or were defeated in doing.  None of it has anything to do with anything Catholic, which was entirely a Divine Right Monarchy (or worse, Papist), polity.  Even now, the Church likes to have its cake and eat it to on natural law - building in an authoritarian check that has no business in a discussion decided wholly by reason (which is how the secular world understands natural law).

Of all the Enlightenment thinkers, it is Rousseau who has the most bearing on liberalism - particularly the kind that seeks a zone of privacy from the state on all matters consensual - to wit - unless everyone agrees on a moral limit, some police power is necessary to enforce the will of the majority on the majority.  In some cases, majority restrictions are intolerable and cannot be allowed to impinge on the individual in his private or public exercise of other rights.  This is especially the case in the area of marriage (both in terms of race and sexuality).  Interestingly, this is what Nino Scalia does not seem to understand either in his questioning of why sodomy laws should not be enacted.

Ingrates | National Catholic Reporter

Ingrates | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Its not just the unions who got these wonderful things - it was the socialists and the communist parties.  Many of the New Deal era gains were made because FDR scared the capitalists with the specter of a united and radicalized working class.  Such radicalization is needed now to reverse the losses of the past 30 years of Reaganomics (which is still with us).

Crazy Cuccinelli | National Catholic Reporter

Crazy Cuccinelli | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Ken is such a wacko that I was considering a run against him from the Independent Green Party. I have since decided not to go down this road, but he almost has a sign on his back that says "beat me." (Only mass infusions of cash will get me to change my mind, including one of those good politician jobs that require no work but pay enough so that I don't have to live on campaign donations).

Bishops: Look Into the Mirror | National Catholic Reporter

Bishops: Look Into the Mirror | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: There is no need for a solution because there is no problem.  The self-insured won't have to cover and those who have outside insurance have been covering contraception, albeit with co-pays, for over a decade (because there are NO policies for preventative care which don't include contraceptive coverage - you just can't buy them).

There is the deeper question, however, which is largely ignored, on whether the Bishops' cooperation with the National Right to Life Committee constitutes support of an ongoing fraud.  It is much more important than whether or not they look bad in the political arena or with the President.

The Moral Compass of Obama Abroad | National Catholic Reporter

The Moral Compass of Obama Abroad | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Do foreign policies have moral underpinnings or do they just cope with current affairs?  I suspect someone wrote Obama's Nobel speech for him using traditional memes. Any real foreign policy execution, save a war of choice, is by nature reactive to events or the insanity of other players or systems that are often pathological.

Redistricting & the HHS Mandate | National Catholic Reporter

Redistricting & the HHS Mandate | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB:  Let us not forget that some of the seats lost to moderate Democrats were because the pro-life Susan B. Anthony Fund blatantly lied about health care reform.  As for the HHS Mandate, let this issue drop - as no additional Catholic institutions will be required to cover contraception as a result of it (since they already have been covering it since December 2000 if they have outside insurance and similar proposals have already been well litigated with Church losing - twice).  There is no substance on either issue, it is all spin because the pro-life cause still has not plan to end abortion that can be called reasonable or realistic.  As far as closing Catholic health institutions - they are owned by religious orders, not diocese, so the bishop cannot close them and won't withdraw the name Catholic over an obscure issue of employee health coverage (where the Church doctrine is wrong on anyway).

I suspect that GOTV will get a bit more attention in 2014.  Additionally, God will be redistricting a lot of GOP districts in the very near future, as they will be demographically different as older boomers and the last of the greatest generation continues to die.

Eric Metaxas is Dangerous | National Catholic Reporter

Eric Metaxas is Dangerous | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Most of the attacks on Romney started with the Gingrich Super-PAC. If the GOP did not like the tone, they have only themselves to blame.

Meyerson on Lansing & Beijing | National Catholic Reporter

Meyerson on Lansing & Beijing | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB:  Workers need to seek new strategies, like employee ownership with unions acting as their brokers with management.  Do that and people will join again.  The GOP seems to be on the wane nationally.  The challenge is to make this a local phenomenon as well.  It could very well be that demographics will take care of this as well.

Shame in Michigan | National Catholic Reporter

Shame in Michigan | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Again, I am not surprised that the Michigan Catholic Conference stayed quiet or the Michigan Republicans overplayed their hand, as both are listening to their donors.  As I said previously, most bishops are no friends of public sector unions, which would also like the opportunity to unionize Catholic school teachers.  The fun begins when the rights of two corporatist institutions diverge.  I agree that the GOP and the bishops got it wrong, but it does not surprise me.  As for the quote from B16, it could have been lifted from Das Kapital, which says essentially the same thing about the corrosive nature of global labor markets.

On the issue itself, the controversy does not come from self-management, as the article implies, but on what the state is willing to do to add the force of law to these organizations.  Will the government favor the doctors (who called contraception essential) or employers?  Will it favor dissenting workers (or Republicans who want a less powerful opponent) or the worker organizations (who favor Democrats)?  It is hard to separate the two issues and it is not merely about independent institutions.

A friendly response to Michael Sean Winters' 'Contra Fr. Schmit' | National Catholic Reporter

A friendly response to Michael Sean Winters' 'Contra Fr. Schmit' | National Catholic Reporter by Massimo Faggioli.  MGB: There will be a window when the Spirit of Vatican II cohort become bishops - not the priests but the youth.  That time is about now.  Let us see if those younger are true believers in tradition or in simple Realpolitick.

Personal & Political | National Catholic Reporter

Personal & Political | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Stories of abortion, especially the medically necessary kind, are essential to understanding much of this issue, especially with regard to ectopic pregnancy.  The pro-life ethics community perhaps needs to do some rethinking on both how we help families mourn lost pregnancies and on whether a child that can never be born normally has a valid claim to life.  The question is not whether the life is innocent, but whether it is a danger.  If it is, its claim must be considered void.

B16 on the Sensus Fidelium | National Catholic Reporter

B16 on the Sensus Fidelium | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The Sensus Fidelium is a good barometer on the natural law reasoning, or what passes for it, that goes on in the Vatican.  When they become so off base that they are ignored, people of good faith MUST disagree with how the Holy Father views the matter.  I am one of those people.

Key Republicans on Immigration | National Catholic Reporter

Key Republicans on Immigration | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Immigration is largely Republicans fighting among themselves between xenophobes (who support the interests of those who would continue to exploit workers) versus Republican business owners who want to benefit from legal immigration to fill their workforce needs.  Note that right to work, which won in Michigan today, is also right to hire undocumented workers, since there is no incentive to do so if you have to pay them a union wage.

Values & The Fiscal Cliff | National Catholic Reporter

Values & The Fiscal Cliff | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Bruce Bartlett's New York Times Economix blog today addresses the long term debt.  It turns out that Medicare and Medicaid is not the cause.  Rather, the biggest factor in increasing debt is net interest costs building on themselves because of tax cuts.  Nothing else is really as out of control.  This is a nice racket for the wealthy to the extent that they receive the interest on the debt and their taxes are too low to finance the repayment, which is continually rolled over.  The question is whether the world will continue to let this happen.  This is doubtful, which is why any solution includes tax increases for the wealthy, even as they would cut spending for - and presumably tax - the poor or insist that their needs be met by non-public means.

Gays at the Supremes | National Catholic Reporter

Gays at the Supremes | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: One wonders whether the push for marriage was more about milking fundraisers for every last dime on the march for equality than any real reticence over the composition of the Court.  Most economically conservative GOP judges are socially liberal.  Considering that the Chief Justice helped the winning team in Roemer v. Evans, one must conclude that the composition of the Court is not the problem.  Nor are the arguments or the representation on the other side sufficient to win the day.  If all they have is reference to Catholic spin (which is not even consistent with Canon Law) that says marriage is to produce children (when in reality fecundity is not required for marriage), then there is no case against marriage other than "gays are icky," which is an argument of moral scorn - and moral scorn has already been thrown out as a defensible legal strategy vice Roemer.

Contra Fr. Schmit | National Catholic Reporter

Contra Fr. Schmit | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The Tridentine Mass is often a symbol of some for a more authoritarian time - an intention I cannot support even as I support the pageantry - so as with any thing it depends upon the motives.  Since the new translation of the Roman Rite, of course, there is very little difference between Rites, save language and the orientations of the priest and people in relation to each other and to the East.  Of course, too much authoritarianism will soon push the English speaking Church toward its own patriarchy - which would lessen unity in fact but increase it in principle.  

Fiscal Cliff, Unions in Michigan & the Church | National Catholic Reporter

Fiscal Cliff, Unions in Michigan & the Church | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: First off, another option for cost savings is to regulate prices in one of three ways - 1. paying beneficiaries less to force lower prices through the market by making it smaller, 2. price regulation through establishing single payer and 3. direct price regulation at the state and federal level. If none of these is possible, additional revenue is the only answer, which can come from the rich, from a payroll tax or a consumption tax. 

Second, truly helping the poor takes more money, not less, because it means adult literacy, not training to change bed pans in nursing homes and hospitals. TANF is a joke and many have been sent to disability, making them a federal problem and taking away any incentive for personal improvement. Many of our policies make people poor, desperate and because you can work part time on disability, permanently in the lower working class. Going beyond that takes a lot of rehabilitative education and attention. The Church can be faulted for not providing adult education on as massive a scale as it provides it to youth, even if we get the Feds to pay for it.

Third, thank you for recognizing the need for a living wage. Almost there - what is needed is to recognize it must be tax subsidized to a greater extent than it is now. The quotations from the Holy Father on the global economy (especially the more Marxian ones) are quite helpful.

Fourth, the bishops probably don't believe in right-to-work for the mostly feminist teacher's unions, who are consistently pro-choice and consistently running up against a wall when trying to unionize Catholic schools. I would not expect them to join hands with the ATF and NEA on any cause.

Fifth, it is the party of neither party to support Catholic theology.  Indeed, the closest thing we have to a call for a Christian Democratic Party is actually an evangelical organization called the Center for Public Justice.  They do not affiliate with either side and don't spend too much time quoting Catholic doctrine.  They talk of Kuyper.  

Finally, I don't expect the President to endorse a pro-life agenda - and I hope he will not because most of the American agenda is about Republican electoral advantage - I hope he goes beyond that to justice for every child. To have him speak fluently in the language of Catholic social thought he would have to hire staff who can write in both his voice and that language. Looking for a job, MSW?

Editorial: 'Fiscal cliff' presents moral questions | National Catholic Reporter

Editorial: 'Fiscal cliff' presents moral questions | National Catholic Reporter There are several ethical questions presented by the cliff, although none that impinge on credal issues unless having one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church implies that it be the safety net. 

A basic issue is whether health care providers are being paid too high a premium for their services or patents - and how this should be reversed. Are free market prices in force or is some form of price regulation required, either through negotiating with a single-payer system or some type of public service commission regulation at the state level. In other words, this is a question of economics. 

Cutting benefits and hoping that the price market will somehow control prices makes it easier for richer people to get care while those who are poorer are forced to accept substandard care or simply die - and that is immoral. If consensus is impossible on market regulation on either the supply or demand side, then the only alternative is to raise more revenue - with the question then becoming whose ox gets gored. 

If we simply go off the fiscal cliff, there will be no need for health care cuts because income taxes in every bracket will provide enough money for increasing health care costs. If they make a deal that extracts savings from health care providers (which is doubtful), then there are three options - increased regressive payroll taxes (the left won't swallow it), increased income taxes on the wealthy higher than even stated policy (the House won't enact it) or some kind of consumption tax that replaces both payroll and income taxes for all but the wealthiest, with or without funding Social Security employer contributions with a consumption tax, which can lead to a higher basic benefit decoupled from the employee contribution and higher premiums for Part B and Part D.

A large part of the moral problem is the protection in our system of property interests. This is not an accident or anything recent. Economic factions are predicted to be a check on popular passions by the unorganized, as can be seen in Federalist 10. The American Constitution is meant to protect entrenched interests - so none of this is any surprise. This is why Christianity must remain a radical movement - which is hard to do when the bishops cozy up to the wealthy and the connected

The HHS Mandate in Court | National Catholic Reporter

The HHS Mandate in Court | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The mandate could eradicate all language on the mandate and the Church, if not self insured, would be required to cover contraception under the 2000 rule by EEOC.  This will quietly go away.  It was an electoral red herring initiated by Valerie Jarrett and it shows that she is smarter than Karl Rove and the Bishops's Pro-Life Secretariat.  The Church should not have bit on this issue and MSW should not have encouraged them on this - nor encourage them to continue.

GOP Intransigence Gets Silly | National Catholic Reporter

GOP Intransigence Gets Silly | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I'm not even sure it is within the rules to filibuster your own motion without simply withdrawing it.  Someone should raise a point of order, just to check.  He definitely put himself in a place to be ridiculed by the Democrats.  Of course, this could all be part of an elaborate dance.  Stranger things have happened.

"To Hell With It" - the "War" on Christmas | National Catholic Reporter

"To Hell With It" - the "War" on Christmas | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: There is not war on Christmas because Christmas has co-opted the pagan holiday.  Jesus was actually born in April according to both astrology and the fact that the shepherds had their flocks in the field.  The feast of Christmas is an attempt to co-opt the pagan holiday which fills a very real human need to affirm light and life as the nights grow longer and darker, hence the drinking and frivolity.  While the commercialism is a bit regrettable, it evolves from the Feast of Epiphany being collapsed into Christmas because we are no longer an agrarian society.  It is apt to hijack the pagan solstice festivals because as Christians we proclaim that Christ is our light - however we should not make wrong the parts of the holiday that come from pagan roots, as they fill a very real human need.

Nussbaum on Human Sexuality, the Church & Culture | National Catholic Reporter

Nussbaum on Human Sexuality, the Church & Culture | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Not so sure ambivalence is the right attitude.  Sometimes one must tap the spiritual gift of courage and tell the hierarchy off when it is wrong, rather than disagree in your heart and admit only ambivalence.

Notre Dame, Gays, & the Church's Teaching | National Catholic Reporter

Notre Dame, Gays, & the Church's Teaching | National Catholic Reporter MSW hits the nail on the head.

"To Hell With It" - Reducing Religion to Ethics | National Catholic Reporter

"To Hell With It" - Reducing Religion to Ethics | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I don't agree with the premise, which is why the left fights so bitterly when bishops on the right insist that we be denied Communion for not supporting their political agenda on electing Republicans because they might eventually pay attention to life issues (which, by the way, is still a fraud).  We also bring our leftism into the Church, which is why we fight for the ordination of women and an end to a sexual ethics that is based on the misogynistic idea that priestly continence is necessary in order to celebrate the Eucharist (which is an insult to the married state - and behind much of the faux piety around sexual issues).  Finally, part of the empty tomb was the washing of the feet at the Last Supper - which given how bishops operate the rest of the year, is a bit of an empty ritual.

Paying attention to the season | National Catholic Reporter

Paying attention to the season | National Catholic Reporter by Phyllis Zagano.  MGB: The reason for the season is to build community to fend off the despair of the growing darkness as the days get shorter.  This is why pagan celebrations often involve both libation and the lighting of fires.  The Church co-opted these festivals to celebrate Christ's birth (even though it is estimated to have been April of 6 BCE, which is when the Magi would have sought him.)  Of course, an April birth celebration would have had reincarnation implications occurring just after the resurrection story, so it got moved.  We can still co-opt the pagan feasts using Christ as our light, but we should do that without making the pagan portions, which fulfill deep human needs, wrong.

Is Hell Empty? | National Catholic Reporter

Is Hell Empty? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Hell certainly exists on Earth and likely after for a great many people.  Whether this is eternal suffering or eventual eternal death has been debated in the Church for years.  There are some Church of Alexandria theologians who argued that eventually Hell would be emptied and all would be saved.  There is an old saw in recovery that Religion is for people to avoid Hell, while Spirituality is for people who have been there and do not want to go back.  Jesus' teaching on Hell likely reflected the conversation of the time, which comes more from Zoroastranism than Judaism.  Whether it is true or not depends on whether you thought that Christ had a direct line to the eternal in this life or whether he was informed by faith and the scriptures and filled with the Spirit.  If he was not a walking Demigod, then even his words must be taken in context. Of course, the most obvious point is that Hell is where we send our enemies.

Why We Love Benedict XVI! | National Catholic Reporter

Why We Love Benedict XVI! | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: He is both right and wrong.  The biological nature of many is essentially true, as is the spiritual nature.  Sexual rights are about individual autonomy, not licentiousness - about being able to live out ones sexuality as it has been given to him or her by God.  The Church did not give us sexuality, God did.  As for the cog and machine quote, I agree.  Economics, as well as sex, is also about human happiness.  Natural Law, even in the form of Eternal Law, must be about human happiness, as this is what God wants for us.

"To Hell With It" - Dorothy Day | National Catholic Reporter

"To Hell With It" - Dorothy Day | National Catholic Reporter MSW misunderstands what the Catholic Left is all about.  We are not trying to conform the Church to our ideas.  Rather, we are trying to conform the Church to its own ideas and its promise.  We are trying to conform the Church to what we believe God would want.  We speak with the Spirit of Prophesy and we cannot be silent.  Dorothy knew that and she certainly did not wait for permission to call her movement Catholic Worker.  The commitment to social justice, both in society and in the Church, is part of that role.

"To Hell With It" - The Motu Proprio | National Catholic Reporter

"To Hell With It" - The Motu Proprio | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The other factor is control by the local ordinary.  It was why the Arizona abortion case was so important.  It will only be resolved once the Church moves its form of governance into the 20th Century - shifting from personal ownership by the bishop to non-profit structures.  Bishops should quietly correct, like a shepherd, rather than governing like feudal lords.  We have had enough feuding in the body of Christ.

KC: Somebody, Do Something | National Catholic Reporter

KC: Somebody, Do Something | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: While he should step down, the reason many of us are not listening is that they are often spouting nonsense, especially when they wade into electoral politics or our bedrooms.

The Self-Destructiveness of Extremists | National Catholic Reporter

The Self-Destructiveness of Extremists | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The only question is, where do Independents who identify as Republicans go?  Will there be a new party or will the DLC Democrats, or possibly a group of partisans from the working class (Green, Democratic Socialists, etc.) take them over. If one party topples, the other will become unstable as well.

Cokie Roberts: Help the Nuns! | National Catholic Reporter

Cokie Roberts: Help the Nuns! | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Sadly, these women have been ill-treated by the institutional church, where they have often toiled for little money.  Many parishes owe them not only a debt of thanks but lots of money.  Also, they have been mistreated by the government, due to their vow of poverty - making them ineligible for some benefits normally given to older people.

Editorial: Ordination of women would correct an injustice | National Catholic Reporter

Editorial: Ordination of women would correct an injustice | National Catholic Reporter It would also give the Church more credibility on life issues and sexual issues, although doctrine may also change as a result of clearer headed female reasoning.

Bar is set low in acceptance of year-old English missal | National Catholic Reporter

Bar is set low in acceptance of year-old English missal | National Catholic Reporter by Rev. Anthony Ruff, MGB: The alternative was to create a new "Great Church" for the English speaking world who can do its own missal.  So far, there has been no pressure for that - even though it would likely solve the papist objections of American Protestantism, leading to ecumenicism in America.